Little Lily

Chapters

Tee Shirts & Tears
Music & Mattresses
Shocks & Stories
Intervention & Nutrition
Resurrections & Revelations
Cotton Candy Clouds & Wafting Chocolate
Awkwardness & Embarrassment

Tee Shirts & Tears

13 April 2012 - Friday

She seemed genuinely confused. I think I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone act so sincere. Ever. She’s either an amazing actress trying to trick me, or she truly believes in what she’s saying. I sat there, staring at her, and she just stared back. “Um, Lis? Are you sure you’re alright?”

She cocked her head again. “Yeah, I feel fine.” She paused. “Actually, I am a little thirsty.”

“Well, there’s a glass of water over there on the bedside table,” I said pointing in that general direction. “Can you tell me where you’re from?”

She was looking at the glass of water, seeming to be in deep concentration. She glanced over at me at my query. “Yeah, I’m from Canterlot.” She seemed a little hesitant. “Why isn’t my magic working?”

And I’m confused again. “Magic?”

She seemed a little concerned. “Yeah, I am a unicorn, after all.”

And my brain stripped a few gears. Wait, magic? Unicorns? Canterlot? Why does that sound so familiar? Before my brain could regain traction, she grunted softly, distracting me. “I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Lis, but you’re not a unicorn, and I don’t think you have magic.”

Lis stopped concentrating on the water and turned to stare at me. “What do you mean I’m not a unicorn?”

I sighed, she really believes this! and pointed at her head. “Check your forehead. Last time I checked, unicorns had horns.”

She frantically brought her hands, why does she have them balled up like that? After a few moments, realization dawned on her face. She whimpered, oof, cuteness overload, and looked back up to me. “If I’m not a unicorn,” she sniffed, “then what am I?”

I deadpanned. I think I’m going back to drugs. “You’re a human.”

She was still sniffling, but seemed more confused than upset at the moment. “What’s a human?”

And I thought my face couldn’t get any deadpannier. “You’re a human, I’m a human. We’re all humans.”

She quieted down for a moment, and I was afraid that I had overloaded her system… until her head popped back towards me. “You mean I look like you?”

Okay, I’m officially offended. I’m not particularly handsome by any meaning of the term, but my looks generally don’t put people off. In fact, I clean up quite nicely. I’ve even had a few girlfriends in the past. “Okay, I’m going to pretend I’m not offended, and that you really don’t know what a human is.” My tone shifted from sarcastic to condescending. “There are a few ways to tell the difference between boys and girls, but the best way is between their legs. You can also determine gender from body size and shape and face shape.” Back to sarcastic. “In other words, yes, you look like me, but are smaller, a lot thinner, and you have tits, which I would appreciate it if you would cover.”

Throughout my rant, she had shrunk more and more into the corner. “I apologize, but I really didn’t know.”

God, why did I do that? I sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just that I’m confused, and I’m sure you’re confused, and my patience is wearing thin, which isn’t your fault, and there’s a beautiful woman in my bed, and I’m nervous, and…” Did I really just say that? Why did I say that? Oh, I hate when I ramble, and now I’m rambling in my head, I really need to-

“Do you really mean that?” Lis interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to notice that she was looking down and off to the side, blushing.

I blushed too, and struggled to stay looking at her. “Um, yeah. I guess I did.”

“Well, thanks.”

“No problem.”

Bring on the awkward silence!

Deciding to play along, I cleared my throat, and said “Well, if you aren’t familiar with humans, are you familiar with hands?” She looked back up at me sheepishly. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’. Well then.” I leaned over the bed and poked her hand. “This is a hand. You have two of them, one at the end of each arm.”

As I poked her, she followed my finger. Then she stared at her hand, still in a fist. As she slowly began to uncurl her fingers, I began to tap each of her fingertips with my pointer. “And these are fingers. You have ten of them, five on each hand. One of these five,” and I tapped her thumb, “is called a thumb.” She waggled her fingers for a bit, then shifted her attention to her other hand. She quickly straightened her fingers, and then waggled them as well.

Once she seemed comfortable with her fingers, I reached for the glass of water that was still sitting on the bedside table. I held it out in front of her with a challenging look in my eyes. She reached up and cupped her hands around it, and nervously nodded at me. I released my grip on the glass, prepared for the need to dry my bed. This proved unnecessary as she quickly downed the entire glass. She then looked back up to me, glass still in hand. Her smile slowly grew from one of awe to one of immense joy. This beautiful smile must have been incredibly contagious.

“Now how about we stand up? I feel like I need to get some clothes on you.”

She cocked her head at me again. That is so cute! “If you say so.” She crawled towards me, and I stood up. She watched me in awe. “Isn’t that difficult?”

I looked down at her and chuckled. “What, standing?”

“Yeah.”

“No, not at all. This is how all humans stand. Well, adult humans, anyway.”

She looked back at me, and smiled nervously. I offered my hand to her, and she took it. I backed away from the bed to give her room. “Now, sit on the edge of the bed.” She swung her legs around and sat down rather heavily. “Now put your feet on the ground, and stand up.” She followed my instructions, gripping my hand tightly. She was really uncertain, as if standing was foreign to her. I don’t think it’d be possible for anyone to act like this if they were familiar with the concept of standing. She slowly stood, using my arm for leverage, until she was standing shakily. After a few moments, she started to feel more certain. “I’m gonna let go now. I want you to try to stand on your own.” She nodded and let go of my arm.

She stood there for a moment or two, still not quite steady. Then she began to lean backward, overcorrected, and started to fall forwards, flailing her arms wildly. Reacting instinctively, we reached for each other, my arms hooking around her waist, her arms around my neck. We stood there for a moment, brown eyes meeting purple. We both blushed deeply at the same time, and released each other. She stumbled a bit, before quickly gaining her balance. She looked up at me and grinned.

“Ready to make our way to the closet?” I said, quickly pushing through the awkwardness of the moment.

She cocked her head again. “I guess so.”

I offered her my elbow, which she gladly accepted, and we began to make our way to the closet on the other side of the room, with her stumbling slightly every few steps. I hadn’t noticed earlier because she hadn't been standing, but she was really tall. Being roughly 6'2.5", most people that I interact with are shorter than I am. But she was as tall as I was,if not taller. If I had to take a guess, I'd say she was 6'2".

We made it to the closet and she let go of my arm. She’s made great progress in the, like, thirty second walk from the bed to the closet. She barely wobbled at all now, and I pulled out one of my longer t-shirts. “I don’t think any of my pants will fit you. Are you okay with just a shirt?”

She cocked her head at me again. “I’d be fine like this. But you seem to think otherwise. Why?”

I looked at her. “Because it’s kinda awkward to have you stay naked.”

She cocked an eyebrow this time, and nodded slowly. I held out the shirt, and she took it. She lifted it up and dropped it onto her head. She struggled for a moment, and I reached over to help her find the head and sleeves. The plain white t-shirt dropped softly down around her, covering her completely. I now understand why men say that their girlfriends look good in their shirts. She looked beautiful. I blushed again and looked away. Trying to break the one-sided awkward silence I myself created, I cleared my throat. “Um, so, uh, Lis. Can you tell me more about yourself?”

She stood there looking up at me. “Yeah, of course. I grew up in Canterlot. Being the capital of Equestria, it houses a lot of culture. Sounds fun, right? Well, I went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but didn’t do too well. I flunked out halfway through my second year. I’m kinda surprised I got in in the first place, seeing as I was never very powerful. Anyways, I had always had this same kind of build, so when I flunked, I was ‘discovered’ by a young Photo Finish. Never could figure out her accent, heh. I became a model, and that got me through life. I just recently met Fancy… pants…” She visibly paled, which I still count as an incredible feat with her skin tone. “Oh, Celestia! How could I forget about Fancypants!” And she broke down into sobs, covering her face with her hands. I reached out to try and console her, leading her to sit down on the bed. She eventually quieted down sufficiently enough for her to speak coherently.

“Are you okay, would you like to talk about it?”

She nodded, and sniffled once, before speaking. “Yeah. Fancypants was my best friend and confidant, has been for almost a year now. I…” She sniffled once or twice. “Do you think I’ll ever see him again?” She looked up at me as she said this, purple eyes large and watery.

D’awww! That’s adorable! I looked her in the eyes and sighed. “Lis, I can’t say for certain whether you’ll see him again. But I can honestly say that he is trying his hardest to find you, because no one would let a woman like you go.” She smiled a sad smile, but her eyes lit up. “And, I will be here for you. No matter what.” She looked confused, but her visage brightened considerably. “I just can’t stand to see a nice girl like you cry.” And she smiled brightly, but she still had tears in her eyes.

Author's Note

Yes, I really do make up words like 'deadpannier', so don't ask.

Music & Mattresses

13 April 2012 - Friday

I pulled Lis into a hug, and she returned it graciously. We sat there for a minute, and she softly cried into my shoulder. Once she had finished, I brought her out to arms length and looked into her eyes. "Feeling better?" She nodded. "Good."

"Could I get some more water?"

"Of course." I got up off of the bed and grabbed her glass. I walked over to the sink in my mini kitchen (a sink, a counter/cabinet, and a mini fridge) and filled her glass. I brought the water back to Lis, and she began to drink. I sat back down next to her, and that's when it hit me. Wait a second. Canterlot? Unicorns? Celestia? Equestria? Ponies! I knew it sounded familiar. Now, I haven't watched My Little Pony in several months. Not since my high school Brony friends last made me. It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't keep watching after they quit making me. I haven't seen anything about Ponies in almost a year.

"Um, Lis?" She looked up at me. "Did you say Equestria?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I did. Why?"

"So you're saying that you used to be a pony?"

"Yes, a unicorn to be exact."

"Alright. Thanks for the clarification." I sat back down on the bed. I have some serious thinking to do. I also have some research to do. Maybe I can do it after she goes to sleep, so that it doesn't give her an existential crisis. "Um, what happened right before you woke up in my bed?"

She set the glass down on the bedside table, and turned back to face me. "Sure. Um... I was sitting with Fancypants at a café in Canterlot. We were eating lunch." I nodded and motioned for her to continue. "That's really all that happened. One minute, we were eating, the next, I'm here, like this, talking to you."

I nodded. "Is there anything you remember happening beforehand? Like, over the past week?"

She shook her head. "Nothing out of the ordinary, no." I began to ask her something else when her face contorted in confusion. "Actually, there is something. There was a rumor going around that Celestia was going to war against some powerful being. Something about chaos, I think?"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting. Um, did you see anything weird happen with the sky right before you woke up here?"

She looked off to the side, staring at nothing. "Now that you mention it, I do think I remember noticing that the sky turned... pink. I pointed it out to Fancypants, and then I woke up here. Why do you ask?"

"Because right before I found you outside, the sky turned pink, which is why I was outside in the first place."

We both sat in silence for a moment, before I asked "Um, is there anything else that I can help you with?"

She looked back at me. "Actually, I am a little hungry."

I nodded. "Yeah, it is dinner time." It's dinner time? Wow. Time sure flies. "Give me a minute. I'll go see what I have." I got up and walked over to my kitchenette and peered into my mini fridge. "Um, there's some left over salad from yesterday. Or I can microwave some Ramen. I don't usually cook unless I need to stay in the room, so there's not much here. I can go to the store tomorrow to get stuff." I turned back to look at her.

She nodded once. "What is 'Ramen'? And what is 'microwave'?"

"Um, I'm not really sure how to explain it, but a microwave is something that allows me to cook simple things quickly. And Ramen is basically microwavable noodles."

She nodded again. "That sounds fine."

I stood up and reached into the cabinet and pulled out two bowls of Insta-Ramen. "I'll be right back. Don't destroy anything, okay?" I flashed her a grin.

She giggled. "Okay, I'll try."

I walked down the hall into the hall's kitchen area. There was a full stove and two ovens and several pots and pans. But I was here for the two microwaves. The room was empty, so I filled up both of my Ramen bowls with water and put then in the microwaves for the standard three minutes. After standing there for the time required, I opened the microwaves and pulled the Ramen bowls out. After allowing them to cool, I brought them back to the room. I reached for the door, only to remember that I had left my room key inside with my cell phone and wallet. I proceeded to knock on the door with my foot (aka kicking). I stood there for a moment until Lis opened the door.

"Can I help- Oh, Thomas! Why did you knock?"

"I left my key inside. Just so you know, I keep my door locked, so don't leave unless I'm here, okay?" She nodded, and I entered, heading towards the kitchenette. She closed the door as I set the Ramen down and pulled two forks out of the cabinet, placing one in each. I handed one thing of Ramen to her and took the other one over to sit at my computer table. "I really need to get another chair. Maybe I can steal one from the hall common area and no one will notice."

She walked over to the bed and sat down, poking at the Ramen the whole time. "Oh, no, you don't need to steal anything for me!"

I looked up at her. "Did I say that out loud?" She nodded. "Oops. No, it's not just for you. I really do need another chair in general. And if I do get one from the common area, it'll only be temporary. So don't worry."

She looked relieved. "Okay then." She then began to eat her Ramen. I followed suit.

We ate in silence. I finished first, and turned to my computer. She noticed what I was doing and asked "What is that? It has a picture of me on it."

I looked over my shoulder at her, then turned back to where I had pulled the webcam up. "Oh, this is my computer. It can do a lot of stuff. The most useful thing it can do is let people communicate over large distances. This is also where I write most of my stuff. The reason there's a picture of you on it is because I was using it to make sure you were okay while you were unconscious. It shows a live image that is picked up by this camera here." I pointed at the camera.

She cocked her head. "I didn't understand most of that. The only thing I did understand was that you write. What do you write?"

I chuckled. I never realized how hard it would be to explain technology to someone whose never seen it before. "Well, I write fiction stories and post them online." She looked at me confused. "On the internet?" She was still confused. I sighed. "I use my computer," I pointed to my computer, "to let other people look at them from their own computers." She nodded slowly, as if she slightly understood what I was saying. I chuckled again. "Don't worry, I don't really understand it either. Just think about it as magic." She seemed to accept this explanation, and went back to eating. "I'm gonna go get that chair now. Most people left for the weekend, so now would be as good a time as any." I stood up and made my way to the door. "Oops, almost forgot my key again." She giggled, and I picked up my key from the bedside table, then left.

I walked down the hall and into the common area. I looked around and got the best chair I could find that would look like it fit in a dorm. I grabbed it and then brought it back to my room, setting it down outside so that I could unlock the door. I then brought the chair into the room and set it at my work desk. "There we go. One chair."

She smiled at me. "Thanks." She had finished eating and had set the bowl on the counter by the sink. I put my key back on the bedside table and grabbed our Ramen bowls and threw them into the trash can between my two desks. The forks ended up in the sink to be washed later. I then returned to my computer desk. While I had been cleaning house, Lis had made her way to the chair that I just brought in. She shifted herself around a bit before getting settled.

I sat back down in my chair and was about to pull up Google Chrome, when I realized something. I turned towards Lis and said "Ya know, I never asked you if you wanted to stay with me, I just kind of assumed."

She looked at me. "That's okay. I don't really have anywhere else to go, and if you were going to hurt me you could have done it while I was unconscious."

"So, do you want to stay with me?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." She smiled, and I smiled back.

"Well, you need some clothes. I have a friend that I think has about the same build as you, so I'll call her tomorrow and ask her if she can spare and outfit. Then we can go get you some clothes of your own." She nodded hesitantly. "And we'll need to get you familiar with technology so that when people come over they wont think that you're weird." This time she nodded more enthusiastically. "Well then, when do you usually go to bed in Equestria?"

"Um, a few hours after sunset, usually. Why?"

"Just trying to figure out plans for tonight. It's about 6:30 right now, and the sun sets in about an hour. Do you mean, like, two hours, or five hours?"

"Closer to two hours I guess."

"Okay, that gives us about three hours, then. Would you like to get working on the technology now?" She nodded. "Then pull your chair over here." She began bringing the chair with her. "Is that chair comfortable?"

She nodded. "Surprisingly. I thought that it would feel weird sitting like this, but it's not."

I nodded. "Well, that's good. Now, this is a computer, and this thing here is a mouse. You hold it in your hand like so, and move it across the table."

"Oooh, my head hurts." Lis was rubbing her temples.

"Yeah, I guess it is a lot to take in all at once." We had been working for about two hours, and she could navigate the desktop fairly well, and she was beginning to accept how the internet works. A few more of these crash courses and she'll be able to make anyone believe that she had been doing this her whole life, although she'll probably never become truly tech-savvy. "But you're doing well." I sat back in the chair and closed my eyes for a moment. "You rest your eyes, I'm gonna go get us something to drink." She nodded and I stood up. Walking towards my kitchenette, I had a thought. "Do you know what caffeine is?"

She turned her head around to look at me. If I didn't believe her, then I'd think that she couldn't have been a pony this morning. Her movement is just so human! "Um, yeah. It's that stuff in coffee that gives you energy, right?"

"Yeah, do you drink coffee often?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Because I don't think you'd like this soda. It has a lot of caffeine, and that would probably keep you up pretty late, but it's really good. I'll give you some tomorrow, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay."

I poured her a glass of water, and poured myself a glass of Mountain Dew. "Just so you know, there's some glasses down here in this cabinet. When you're done with it, just put it in the sink." She nodded, and I handed her her glass. I sat back down. "Do you want to keep working?"

She shook her head. "All this... technology has made me tired." She yawned.

I chuckled. "Well then, why don't I show you something." She laid her head down on my shoulder and I felt her nod. I pulled up a Chrome window and pulled up Grooveshark. "I'd like to show you some of my favorite music." She nodded again, but slower. I think she's falling asleep. I pulled up Hotel California by the Eagles. I set that to play, then went to find Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer and Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. As Hotel California began the first verse, I could feel her sleepily moving to the beat. I started to mouth the words, being the music lover that am. By the time we got to the second verse, she had lifted her head up. I looked down at her, and she looked up at me and then back to the computer. She sat like that until the guitar solo when she jumped. She stayed like that until the song faded out. She looked back up at me.

"Do all the songs have words with them?"

"Yeah..." I paused the playlist. "Oh! You must be used to Classical stuff. Yeah, most rock songs have lyrics." She nodded. "Ready for the next one?" She nodded again, and I unpaused it. Livin' on a Prayer began, and this time she seemed more involved. I was still mouthing the words. When the first chorus began, she jumped at the spike in intensity. This one went by more quickly, and Free Bird began.

She looked up at me. "Is this the same group? It's more mellow than the others."

"Well, all three of these are different groups, but yeah this one is calmer." I smirked. "For now."

"What?" Then the first chorus began and realization crossed her face. I chuckled.

We let the song play without anymore words. Once it ended, Lis looked up at me eagerly. "Can we listen to more?"

I chuckled. "Of course. Would you like more of one group, or just the whole genre?"

"I don't care."

"Whole genre it is then." I pulled up the Classic Rock radio station on Grooveshark and let it play.

We sat like that for the rest of the night. I used the other screens to check email and Facebook while she watched the rock titles go by. It was now ten o'clock, and she was asleep on my shoulder. I stopped the music and tried to pick her up without waking her. It didn't work, but I'm not sure she ever fully reached consciousness.

I brought her over to the bed and laid her down. As I pulled the covers over her, she looked up at me and said "I don't want to take your bed away from you."

"No, it's fine."

"Well, where are you going to sleep?"

"I've got an extra blanket over there, I was just gonna curl up in that on the floor."

She sleepily shook her head. "No. I insist that you sleep in your own bed."

"I can't make a lady sleep on the floor."

"Who said anypony had to sleep on the floor?"

I shook my head. Either she's really naive, or completely out of it. I'd hate to take advantage of this situation, but I don't particularly want to sleep on the floor. Fine. I took my shirt off and changed into my pajama pants. I then crawled under the covers and laid down with my back towards her. "Goodnight Lis."

My only answer was a soft snore.

Author's Note

I was going to say something here, but I forgot what it was... Oh well.

Shocks & Stories

14 April 2012 - Saturday

I awoke gently, as is normal for weekends. I almost wanted to go back to sleep, but I wasn't tired. I think that that was the best night sleep I've had in a long time. I could feel the light from the window across the room on my back, so I was hesitant to open my eyes. I steeled myself to open my eyes into the bright light. Now, I'm not used to waking up with the sun streaming through my window, because I'm either awake before it gets high enough, or I'm not until after it's on the other side of the building, so I don't usually have to deal with this. After lying there for a moment, I cautiously opened my eyes.

The first thing that I noticed was that the majority of my field of vision was pink. What do I have that's pink that could end up on my bed? I lied there for a moment, contemplating this question. My thinking was interrupted by a realization of the position of my body. I had my right arm up under my pillow, which isn't unusual, but my left arm was draped over something warm. What? I lifted my hand up, and pulled my head back. That's when I saw that the pink thing was hair.

I jumped back and fell off of the bed. I let myself lie there for a moment, trying to catch my breath and nursing my sore back. "Ooh, that hurt."

Lis stuck her head out over the side of the bed and gasped. "Are you okay, Thomas?"

I sat up and looked up at her, still rubbing my back. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've had worse." I began to stand up. "I'm sorry I woke you."

She got up off the bed and helped me to stand. "No, you didn't wake me, I was already awake. I would have gotten up, but I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh, okay then." I finally got myself standing, and stretched my back out, hearing several loud pops. "Ooh, that felt good. Give me a minute to get dressed, and then we'll get breakfast. After that I'll call Brandi and get her to bring an outfit for you." I then began to change into a pair of jeans and a plain white tee shirt. I then pulled a box of Raisin Bran from the cabinet and a gallon of milk from the fridge. I poured two bowls and brought them over to my work desk after returning the cereal and milk to their proper places. "Here, have a bowl."

She walked over and sat down. "What is it?"

I rolled my own chair over and sat down next to her. "It's cereal. Bran flakes with raisins. It's really good." I ate a spoonful.

She tentatively tried a bite, and she smiled widely. "That's a lot better than it sounds."

I chuckled as she began to eat the remainder of her cereal quickly. I ate my own bowl, and we finished at about the same time. I took our bowls and spoons and put them in the sink. I then grabbed my cell phone and dialed a two, pulling up the contacts beginning with A, B, and C, and selected Brandi's number.

There were two rings, then a click, followed by a "Hello?"

I sat down in my chair and rolled it back over in front of my computer. "Hey, Brandi."

"Hey, Thomas. You're up early."

"Yeah, I went to sleep early. I have a favor to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow a full outfit? Just for the day."

There was silence for a moment. "Why?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain when you get here."

"...Um, okay? I'll see you in a few..."

"Thanks, Brandi. I'll see you then."

"Bye." And there was a click.

I closed my phone and put it back on the bedside table. I turned back to Lis. "Well, that takes care of that."

Lis was staring at me with a look of complete and utter confusion plastered on her face. "Who... who were you just talking to?"

"My friend Brandi. She's gonna bring you an out fit to borrow, so that we can go shopping today."

She looked around, still confused. "But there's nopony else here."

I chuckled, I forgot how much I enjoyed the pony puns, and shook my head. "I used my cell phone," I pointed to my phone, "to talk to her. She's in another building across campus." She still looked confused. "More technology. Think of it like magic." She nodded slowly. I turned back to my computer and pulled up Grooveshark. I set it to play Classic Rock radio. Lis slid her chair over beside mine and looked at the screen.

We sat there like that, listening to music, until there was a knock at the door. I stood up, and made my way to the door. Before I could get there, I heard a distinctly feminine voice call out "Thomas! If you don't come to the door-"

I interrupted her by opening the door. "Sup. Come on in."

Brandi had a slight build, and long hair that changed color about every other day, today it was copper red. She was roughly 5'9". She made to slide past me into my room, but stopped as soon as she saw Lis. She turned to stare at me. "Really, Thomas. Really."

"Woah now, let me explain. But first, you did bring the clothes, right?"

"Of course I did," she held up a bag, "here."

I took the bag from her. "Here, Lis, take this into the bathroom and get changed while I talk to Brandi."

"Okay." Lis stood up and took the bag from me before heading into the bathroom and closing the door.

As soon as the door closed, Brandi turned back to me. "Well? I'm waiting."

"it's not as bad as it seems, okay?"

"Well, that's good, cause it seems pretty bad."

I had been debating whether to tell her the truth or not since I called her earlier, but I had yet to come up with any plausible explanations as to why there was a girl in my room wearing only one of my shirts. "Okay, don't laugh at this, cause it is the honest truth." She nodded. "I found her yesterday afternoon on the lawn, naked. I didn't want to leave her outside, so I brought her up here. I gave her one of my shirts to wear, ya know, so that she wouldn't be naked. She told me that she was from some world with unicorns and magic, but I think she believes it. I don't know what, but something about her makes me want to help her."

Brandi stared at me for a few moments. I thought I broke her for a while there, but thankfully, she pulled her hand up to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose. She sighed. "Thomas..." She shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I dunno, nothing, I guess."

"Ha ha, real funny. But seriously, why are you letting some stoner stay at your place? It just doesn't seem right."

"I don't think she's a stoner, Brandi. She hasn't been acting like that, just kinda out of place."

"Okay, whatever, but if she tries to kill you or something because she gets high, I wont hesitate to say I told you so."

"Yeah, fine. Thanks for the clothes."

"Whatever. I still don't think she should be here."

I opened my mouth to respond when the bathroom door creaked open, I need to oil that, and Lis stepped out.

"Um, am I wearing this right?" She had a on a white tank top and a pair of shorts that's the same pink as her hair.

How did that happen? "Yeah, that seems right." I turned back to Brandi. "Did you bring any shoes?"

She looked at me with a really face. "Yes, because I knew that you were clothing a completely naked girl."

Yay sarcasm. "Well, could you go get a pair of flip flops or something?"

"Why do I have to walk across campus four times today? You know where my room is, you go get it." She held out her key chain.

"Only if you come shopping with us."

"Fine."

I took her keys. "Good. Don't kill each other while I'm gone, okay?" Brandi gave me a smile that said no promises and Lis nodded. I sighed and walked towards the door. "Call me if you need anything."

"Oh, just leave." Brandi closed the door behind me.

I sighed again and shook my head before making my way to Brandi's room.

I arrived back at my room with a pair of pink flip flops in hand. I very carefully unlocked the door to make sure I didn't interrupt anything. As I stepped into the room, I saw Lis sitting in my computer chair and Brandi sitting in the chair I just got for Lis. Lis was talking, saying something about magic. Oh God, now Brandi'll think that she's right. I didn't get a chance to hear exactly what was said because Lis noticed me fairly quickly.

"Oh, Thomas. You're back." This caused Brandi to turn towards me. Surprisingly, she had a slight smile on her face.

I ignored that for the moment. "Here, Lis. Put these on, and then we'll go." I handed the flip flops to her and then grabbed my wallet and car keys. I looked back up to see Brandi showing Lis how to put them on. "Okay, what did I miss?"

Brandi looked up. "Oh, Lis just told me where she came from. You were right, there is something about her that just makes me want to trust her."

"Okaaay... Well, let's just head on."

"Okay then." Lis stood up. "These shoes feel weird."

Brandi chuckled. "Yeah, they take some getting used to. Come on! Let's go shopping!" She grabbed Lis by the wrist and took off out the door.

I shook my head. "Wow. I never thought that they be such good friends, at least not that quickly."

I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me, and made my way down to the parking lot to meet the girls at my car.

Intervention & Nutrition

14 April 2012 - Saturday

A knock on the door roused me from my research. I had been completely enthralled in my rediscovery of the magic of friendship, and started at the sudden absence of silence and fell out of my chair, resulting in a resounding thud. With a groan, I pulled myself up off the ground and glanced around for the source of the auditory intrusion. My search ended quickly due to a concerned “Thomas?” coming from the door.

I opened the door to Brandi standing there, about to knock again with a slightly amused expression. Lis, standing behind her, had concern plastered across her face. Brandi was the first to break the silence, a chuckle escaping before she could find her voice. “Still haven’t found a way to defy gravity, huh?” Lis’ expression grew shocked and flicked between me and Brandi.

I chuckled, ignoring my slight headache. “No, haven’t gotten that figured out yet. So, what’s up?”

Brandi pointed over her shoulder at Lis, who looked incredibly confused. “We ate our lunch and talked a little. We saved you some fries.” She bent down and picked up a take out box that I hadn’t noticed was sitting at her feet. She passed it to me, and I took it inside and put it on my desk with the rest of my mostly untouched lunch.

“Y’all can come in if ya want.”

I turned around to find Brandi already standing right behind me, with Lis following closely behind. Brandi was grinning widely. “Sometimes I forget that you’re Southern. And then you say something like that.” She let out a short laugh.

I grinned sheepishly. “What did I say this time?”

Brandi chuckled. “You said ‘y’all’.”

“Really? That’s not actually too bad.”

Brandi just laughed. She sat down at my computer and spun around once. I sat down on my bed, motioning for Lis to take the spare chair. I glanced over at my alarm radio for the time. Whoa!! It’s almost four! I was thinking it was only, like, 12:30! “Are either of you thirsty?” I stood up off of the bed.

They both responded to the affirmative, and I went and filled up two glasses with Mountain Dew, handing them off as I picked up my own from beside the computer. I also grabbed the box of fries before returning to my bed. “So, what were you talking about?”

Brandi, who had propped her feet up on my desk, looked over at Lis, who was staring down into her drink. Brandi looked back over at me. “Um, that’s a little personal. I don’t think you’re gonna hear about it.”

That stopped me in the middle of bringing a handful of fries to my mouth. “Huh.” I ate the fries in my hand before continuing. “Alright then, why’d you come here?”

Brandi chuckled. “Well, we finished talking, and Lis didn’t want you to feel left out, so we decided to hang out with you.” Lis nodded slightly.

“While I appreciate the concern, you really didn’t have to. I would’ve been fine.” Another handful of fries entered my mouth.

Lis seemed to deflate slightly, her shoulders sagging and head drooping. Brandi, on the other hand, was giving me a look that I knew very well. It was a mix of 'Are you serious?', 'You've got to be kidding me.', and 'You aren't very bright.'. That look made me stop for a second and rethink what I had just said.

Partial realization surfaced quickly and made me reword my statement. “It’s not that I’m not glad to see you or anything, just that I wouldn’t want to cause you to change your plans for the sake of my comfort.”

Lis seemed to brighten a little, and Brandi’s expression changed to one of slight amusement. Good, I have appeased Brandi’s wrath.

Brandi and I talked for a while, with Lis listening contently, while I finally ate my cooled lunch. I hate when I don’t realize that I’m hungry. By 4:30, I had finished eating and had pulled my sketch pad out from my night table. I’m a fairly good artist, although I’m better at manipulating objects on a computer screen. I’m studying to be a graphic artist, majoring in graphic design and minoring in computer animation. That’s how I convinced my parents to help me finish my computer. I wasn’t focusing on what I was drawing while I was talking, my hand was really working on it’s own. At 5, Brandi and I had just about exhausted our topics of conversation and the periods of peaceful silence were growing.

Brandi stood and stretched her arms up above her head. “Well, I’m getting hungry, who wants supper?”

Lis nodded once. “Yeah, that sound’s good.”

They both looked at me expectantly. I shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

Lis stood up and joined Brandi near the door while I put my sketch pad away. I glanced at it as I was closing it. I had subconsciously drawn a face. I shrugged, It’s not the first time, and left it open to look at later. I put it back in my night table and then picked up my wallet, cell phone, and car keys. I then got up and joined the girls at the door, and we went downstairs.

We got in my car and drove down to the on-campus buffet-style cafeteria. We paid at the entrance and stepped inside. I pulled Brandi over to the side. "You wouldn't have happened to have talked with her about... omnivorousness?"

Her eyes widened. "No, I didn't. How are we going to do this?"

I thought for a moment, watching Lis look around in wonder. Naïveté can be so cute. “Why don’t you take her over to the veggie counter. What do you want me to get you?”

Brandi nodded. “Sounds good. Get me a... cheese burger? And fries?”

I nodded. “Sure. Good luck.”

She muttered a “Thanks.” as she walked over and rejoined Lis and pointing to the vegetarian counter.

I stood there for a second watching them, trying to figure out how we’re going to explain this.

I stood looking out over the multitude of tables. How can it be so hard to find two people? Finally, I saw Brandi waving me over towards on of the tables towards the back, away from most of the crowd.

I walked over and set down the tray of food that I was carrying. Brandi took her cheeseburger and fries and put them in front of her. I slid the rest of the tray over to one of the empty seats. Glancing around the table, I discovered that Lis had chosen a veggieburger. A glass of water was sitting next to it, about half full. Brandi had a glass of what appeared to be Mountain Dew sitting next to her burger. I looked down at my steak and fries. That looks a little out of place. Oh well. I picked up my own glass of Mountain Dew and took a sip. “So, how’d it go?”

My question was directed at Brandi, but Lis answered instead. “Oh, it went wonderfully. The staff here is so helpful.”

Brandi grinned. “Yeah, it went fine. We haven’t had any... incidents yet.”

I smiled. “That’s good. But I think we need to have an intervention.” I looked at Brandi, then at Lis.

Brandi’s grin faded a little. “Really? Now?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately.”

Lis had been following our back and forth, and confusion had gradually spread across her face. “An intervention? Am I correct to assume it’s with me?” I nodded. “What about? Did I do something wrong?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing wrong. We just need to talk to you about something.” I thought for a second. “I guess intervention isn’t the best wording.”

Lis glanced at Brandi before looking back at me. “Well, what are we talking about?”

I looked over at Brandi, urging her to help me. “Well. We just felt it would be a good idea to inform you of some... cultural differences.” Thank you, Brandi!

I nodded. “And some special* changes. Mainly, that of diet. Humans don’t eat hay or grass or flowers. We do eat some grains, such as wheat and oats, though.”

Lis looked a little downtrodden. “Okay, no flowers.”

I glanced a Brandi before continuing. “But that’s not the biggest thing.” Lis raised an eyebrow. “Most humans eat meat.”

Author's Note

*pronounced with a long ‘e’, means of or pertaining to a species

Resurrections & Revelations

14 April 2012 - Saturday

“I think we broke her.” Brandi was desperately attempting to get a reaction from Lis, who had been sitting there with wide eyes for almost five minutes. Brandi turned and looked at me. “Nothing’s working.”

“Here, let me try something.” I got up out of my chair and walked around the table to be beside Lis. “Hey, Lis.” No response. “Lis?” Nothing. I thought for a second, and then crouched down so that our eyes were level. “Lis?” Still nothing. I brought my hands up around her and pointed my index fingers at her sides. As soon as I made contact, I felt her flinch. I added more pressure until she jumped and squealed quite cutely. I turned to look at Brandi over my shoulder. “Seems someone’s ticklish.”

Brandi shifted her arms to cover her own sides. “That’s not funny...”

I grinned, turning to look back at Lis. “Are you awake now?” Lis wasn’t looking at me, but she moved from her frozen state. “Lis?” Lis remained motionless. “Don’t make me poke you again.” Her arms moved up and clutched her sides. “Ah, so you are awake. Well, listen. I can’t help you with this if you don’t let me. I want to help. But I can’t help you unless you let me. Please, just say something.” We sat there for a minute; Lis looking off to the side, me watching for Lis’ reaction, and Brandi watching the two of us.

After what felt like hours, Lis finally broke her silence. “That’s... not nice...”

I held back a chuckle. “What’s not nice?”

Lis finally looked at me again. “Saying things like that. It’s not nice.”

I glanced at Brandi, who shrugged, before turning back to face Lis. “Um, care to explain that one to me?”

Lis’ expression grew slightly darker. “You know, it’s one thing to make a joke like that, as sick as it is, but you should at least acknowledge that it was a joke when it gets outed.”

I sighed, and I’m pretty sure that Brandi’s forehead is gonna bruise. Well, that was pointless. I stood back up and took my seat again and watched as Brandi did the same. “We’ll talk about this later, okay?” Brandi let out a resigned sigh, and Lis was still kinda glaring at me. That went well! We spent the rest of the meal in awkward silence.

The awkward silence remained throughout the return ride and the walk up to my room. I don’t think that Lis stopped glaring at me, even when she wasn’t looking at me. I walked over to the kitchenette as the girls took their seats. I poured a glass of Mountain Dew and went to sit on my bed. “So...”

Brandi groaned. “Let’s just get this over with.” Lis turned to look at Brandi, and I’m pretty sure that the glare she was giving me stayed. That means she’s mad at Brandi, too? Yes! I’m not alone! Brandi turned to Lis. “Lis, people really do eat meat.” Lis glare softened just a touch. “No joke.”

Now, Lis seemed to melt a little. “Really?” Brandi and I both nodded. “No joke?” Another round of nodding. “Well, that’s... upsetting.”

Brandi and I glanced at each other, and I stood up and walked over to Lis’ chair. Squatting down to her eye level, I looked her in the eyes, she’s almost in tears, and offered what comfort I could. “There are many people in the world who don’t eat meat, although they are the minority. You can be a perfectly normal person without eating meat, if you so choose.” She nodded. “However, I think that you should try some before you decide.” She looked horrified, and I felt bad, but a glance at Brandi told me that I hadn’t messed up too badly. “Come on now, let’s just put this behind us and get on with the day. Speaking of, what would y’all like to do for the next few hours?”

Brandi glanced over at my alarm, chuckling slightly. “While I’d love to stay and chat, it’s getting kinda late, and I’d like to get some homework done tonight.” She stood up and started walking towards the door before turning back to look at Lis. “You comin’, or you wanna stay here?”

Lis looked startled for a second. “Um, I-I wouldn’t want to disturb you while you’re working.”

Brandi nodded once before continuing towards the door. “Well alright then. Have fun, you two.” The door slid shut behind her.

Seems kinda foreboding, doesn’t it. I shook it off, chuckling. It’s just like Brandi to be so melodramatic. I took a swig of my Mtn. Dew before turning back to Lis. “So, what would you like to do?”

She looked around the room for a second before her eyes fell on the computer. “Can we do what we did last night? Listen to music and learn about... stuff?”

I chuckled and nodded, standing up to go take a seat at my computer. I sat in my chair and spun around to face my computer, nudging the mouse in the process. I quickly minimized the window that I was researching ponies in, and slid over to the screen that still had Grooveshark open before turning to look at Lis, still sitting over to the side. “Well? What are you waiting for? Pull up a chair!” She giggled a little, but complied. “So, would you like to have the music going while we work, or would you like to wait until afterwards, like we did last night?”

Lis looked up at me for a second before turning to look at the computer. “Let’s have the music going while we work.”

I nodded and turned on Grooveshark’s rock radio station. “Alright then. Let’s begin.” She giggled. “This is the keyboard, and you use it to input letters into the computer.”

“Come on, now! It’s barely been a half-hour!”

“But I’m tired! I don’t want to learn anymore! I can’t learn anymore!”

I sighed and leaned away from the computer. “Yesterday we worked for two hours, but today we can barely get in thirty minutes. What’s wrong?” She shrugged. “Well, we’ve still got another half-hour before dark, so what do you want to do, if we’re not gonna work on learning technology?”

“Can I see what you were drawing this afternoon?”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not?” I stood up and walked over to my bedside table, pulling my pad out and looking over it once more. This face is really familiar... I shrugged mentally and walked back over to Lis. “Here, this is what I was drawing.”

She took the pad and looked over it for a second. “Who is this? It’s really good.”

I shrugged. “I have absolutely no idea who it’s supposed to be. When I draw while distracted, like I was this afternoon, my hand does what it wants.” I shrugged. “And thanks.”

She started flipping through the rest of my pad, stopping to look at most of the sketches and offering words of praise. Before long she started yawning fairly regularly. After a particularly large yawn, she stretched her entire body, legs and arms shooting off from an arched back.

I chuckled. “Looks like you really are getting tired.” She yawned once more and nodded. “Why don’t we get you ready for bed, then.” She nodded again, and I stood up and offered her a hand. We walked over to the several bags of clothes that were sitting on the floor by my dresser. I knelt down and started digging through them. “I don’t think we got you any pyjamas at the store today. Um... Here, some sweatpants and... um...”

She took the sweats from me. “Could I sleep in another one of your shirts? I’m still not entirely comfortable sleeping with clothes on, and I think the larger shirt will be more comfortable.”

I glanced at her over my shoulder. “Yeah, I don’t see why not.” Is she blushing? It’s hard to tell with her looking away like that... I stood up and pulled another white undershirt out of my dresser and handed it to her.

She took it, yawning, and started towards the bathroom to change, and I went to sit back at my computer. Man, what a day. I pulled up Facebook, and nearly jumped when Brandi sent me a message almost instantly. ‘Having fun?’ I replied with a simple ‘What are you talking about?’ This received a ‘;)’ and a ‘I’m not telling...’ I shook my head and left that be, checking my email.

Lis stepped out of the bathroom shortly. “What do I do with these?” I turned around, and she was holding the clothes that Brandi brought over.

“Oh, just leave them in the bathroom, and I’ll take them to her tomorrow.” She nodded and complied, before coming to sit beside me again. “Are you not going to bed?”

“I’m waiting for you.” She laid her head down on my shoulder, yawning again.

I chuckled a little. “Then you might be waiting for a while. I’ve got some stuff that I need to do.”

“Like?”

“Oh, just some stuff for school, tidying up a little. Nothing to important.”

She yawned again and stood up. “Okay then, I guess I’m going to bed now.”

“Goodnight, Lis.”

“Goodnight.”

She laid down on the bed, almost right up against the wall, and pulled the comforter around her. She yawned once more, and the next sound she made was a soft snore.

Geez, it’s only eight! Well, let’s get going! I turned back to my computer and pulled my research window back up. Well, that’s kinda freaky! Glad she didn’t see this! I closed out the window and stood up to start making things a little neater. I cleaned up all the glasses and foodstuffs from the day, loading up the fridge and the sink. After washing the dishes, I went to put my pad back in my bedside table.

Picking it up, I noticed that it was open to the face that I drew this afternoon. I sat down in my office chair to examine the face and search my psyche for the owner of the face, be they real or imaginary.

Let’s see, seems to be a woman, slight build, light hair... two-tone hair? Hmm. Full lips, large eyes, small nose, maybe a model. Lis snuffled in the bed, rolling over and bring a smile to my face. I turned my attention back to my pad, but yawned before I could draw any more conclusions from it. Guess I’m more tired than I thought. Another yawn. Eh, I’ll figure it out later. I put my pad back in my bedside table, and then went to get ready for bed. Afterwards, I turned of my computer monitor and crawled into bed beside Lis, whispering “Sweet dreams.”

Cotton Candy Clouds & Wafting Chocolate

13 April 2012 - Friday

“I’ll see ya next week, man.”

“Yeah, right back atcha,” I said as my best friend left for the week end. He came up to my single before he had to go. I was staying here, because I didn’t want to drive all the way from Philly to Raleigh twice in one weekend.

The door shut behind him, and I turned back to my desk. He’d interrupted my French homework. I wanted to get it done today so that I could spend the rest of the weekend on my computer. I spent a lot of time and money on my baby, and it showed. My six screen set up took up an entire corner of the room, and the large CPU left little room under my computer table for my legs. Two of my screens had stories on them constantly, one is being read, and the other is being written. I generally have my email up on a third screen and Facebook on a fourth. I use the two middle ones for surfing the web.

Finishing my French, I rolled my chair over to my computer and nudged the mouse. All six screens returned at the same time, and I brought my mouse to the center screen. I began to pull up Starcraft, when I remembered that I needed to get my mail because the university post office staff gets angry if you let the mail sit there for too long.

I got up and grabbed my cell phone and keys and went down stairs. The mailboxes for my dorm are in this room with a large glass wall staring out over a large grassy field. I tend to stare out every time I go in there, and today was no exception. After I checked my mail, empty as usual, I stood there for a second watching the wind blow through the trees.

I was about to turn to head back to my room, when everything started changing colors. My first thought was that someone had been smoking something in here earlier, but I didn’t smell anything odd. I decided to head outside to investigate.

I got out the door and looked around. Everything looked…pink? Why was everything pink? I looked up towards the sky, and saw a sea of pink dotted with clouds that looked like cotton candy. I must be really tired, I thought, if the world is pink. The wind picked up slightly, and brought the sweet smell of chocolate to my nose from the direction of the cafeteria. Most people were at home, so the cafeteria should be relatively empty and that whatever-it-is smelt really good, so I decided I would go get some of whatever-it-is.

As I’m making my way towards the cafeteria across aforementioned field, I stumbled over something. I regained my balance, I hope no one saw that, and looked back at what had tripped me. To my shock, there was a naked person laying there, face down in the grass. They were thin, incredibly thin, and the upper half of the torso, along with the head, was covered by long pink-and-white striped hair, which made me believe they were female.

Fearing the worst, I stooped down towards her. I took her slender wrist in my hand, it’s so tiny! and sought out a pulse. I sighed in relief as I easily found it. I looked her over without moving her, yep, definitely a girl, and didn’t see any signs of injury. I looked around, and, not seeing anyone, returned my attention to her. I gently rolled her over to see a gorgeous face and the trimmest figure I have ever seen. Blushing, I did the only thing I could think of. I gently lifted her, bridal style, she’s incredibly light, too, and carried her up to my room.

I made it up to my floor and, standing outside my door, struggled to get my keys out of my pocket and open the door. I laid her on my bed and brought the covers over her figure. As I dropped the blanket, she shifted and ended up curled up and looking adorable.

My blush intensified, and I looked away quickly. I made myself get up and leave her to sleep. I walked over to my mini kitchen, and fixed two glasses of water, carrying one over to the bedside table. I pondered what she was doing here. Could she have been high? That sounds likely. I sat down at my computer and adjusted one of my three webcams to look at the unconscious girl in my bed and had it show on my upper middle screen. I then pulled open a browser page and opened up Google. I searched for ‘missing person Philadelphia’ and found the PPD missing person report page and typed in a description of her. Nothing came up.

Well, that was a bust. What else could I try? I went back to Google, but before I could begin to try to find more of a solution my mind ground to a halt. Waiiit, wait, wait. I spun around to stare at her. There is a beautiful naked girl asleep in my bed. Why am I sitting at the computer?

Because if you weren’t, you would be drooling over her. Now turn back around and let her sleep!

But she looks so adorable!

Control yourself! Just ignore her and get back to the keyboard. I spun back around and was about to resume the search, when I heard the most beautiful gasp. My gaze jumped up to the upper screen with the live feed on it to see her sitting up with her eyes wide. I hope this thing is recording.

I spun around to look at her. I’m gonna get dizzy if I keep this up. The blanket was bunched up on her lap. The first thing my eyes met was here chest, and I blushed hard. I quickly tore my eyes up to her face and saw her gorgeous purple eyes. Is that even possible? Her eyes were huge, and I could see the shock seeping out. That shock then morphed into fear when her eyes found me, and my first instinct was to go over and comfort her. I began to get up and her eyes got even wider. How is that possible!?! She slowly backed up into the corner that my bed sat in and I could tell that she was about to bolt.

Her mouth began to open and close, as if trying to grasp onto nonexistent words. “Wh-wh-wh-what are y-y-you?” she stuttered out.

I stopped as she said that. What? “Are you okay?”

“You can talk?” She sounded really surprised.

And I was confused again. “Yes, of course I can talk. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“D-d-don’t hurt me.” She said this last part really quietly.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I just want you to calm down so that you can tell me how you ended up on the lawn, naked.”

She slowly began to calm down, and I sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked up at me, her eyes were still wide. “Who are you?” She was still being very quiet.

“My name is Thomas Allen, and I’m a student here at DU. And I now I want to know who you are.”

She looked down and to the side, as if she couldn’t bear to look at me anymore. “Um, my name is Elizabeth, but my alias is Lis.”

“Can I call you Lis?” She nodded. “Well then, Lis, are you alright?” She nodded again. “Well, that’s good. Can you tell me how you ended up unconscious and naked on the campus commons?”

She tilted her head at me, like a dog does. “But I never wear clothes.”

Author's Note

Yes, I really do argue with myself, and it's not always in my head. I'm trying to take Fleur in a different way than what it seems like she would be, a stuck up bitch. I'll let her character form itself as we go. Um, yeah... Have fun!

Awkwardness & Embarrassment

14 April 2012 - Saturday

I exited the building and walked around the corner to where I always park my car. As I'm rounding the corner, Brandi is leaning on my car watching Lis peer inside. When Brandi sees me, she stands up off of the car, causing Lis to look up.

Brandi smirked at me. "About time you showed up. We've been standing out here for ever!"

Lis cocked her head at this. "No, we haven't. We've only been out here for a few seconds."

I chuckled. "She's joking, Lis." I got to the car and unlocked it. It was a dark red, four-door Honda Accord. Nothing fancy.

Brandi walked around to the passenger side and got in the front seat. "Yeah, we both do."

I opened the driver's side rear door for Lis and she climbed in. "Oh, um, okay. Tell me, what is this thing?" She gestured to the car surrounding her.

I climbed into the driver's seat. "This is my car. It's an automobile, which means that it moves under its own power." I buckled my seatbelt, which Brandi had already done. "Lis, I need you to buckle your seat belt." She looked up at me confused, and Brandi leaned back and showed her how. When I cranked the engine, Lis jumped in the back seat. "Don't worry, it's completely under my control." I switched on the radio and the Rolling Stones began to flow through the car.

Lis leaned forward and put her chin on the back of my seat. "Oh, I don't think I know this one."

Brandi grinned. "That happens when new songs are being written every day."

I turned to face Lis. "Yeah. Um, I need you to sit back."

Lis nodded and rested against the back of the seat.

I glanced around at the nearly empty parking lot before shifting to reverse and making my way onto the road. I drove a few blocks over to Market Street, then crossed the Schuylkill River on the way to The Gallery, a mall in town. I found a place to park and we walked back. We walked down into the depths of the mall to reach Pay/Half, where I tend to go to when I need something clothing based.

The three of us left the store with a few bags of clothing. Or, rather, I had a few bags of clothing and the girls were chatting like old friends. I still need to figure out what happened in that room while I was getting those flip flops...

“So...” I said, just loud enough for them to hear me, stop chatting back and forth, and look back at me. “What are we gonna do now?”

Brandi looked thoughtful for a moment. “What time is it?”

I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open. “It’s 11:30.”

“Why don’t we stop for some lunch?”

“That sounds good to me. Lis?”

She looked shocked for a moment before answering. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

I nodded. “I don’t eat around here often. Do you, Brandi?”

“Yeah. There’s a good place down there.” Brandi pointed ahead of us towards the escalators, which Lis, surprisingly, had no trouble with. I’m not even sure she noticed that the stairs moved. “It’s an Italian place with excellent... pasta and salads.” She stepped closer to me and lowered her voice. “Have you talked to her about... carnivorous diets?”

I glanced nervously over at Lis. “Ah, no. I have yet to broach that topic.”

Brandi deadpanned. “Really? Why do you have to pull these words out of the dictionary all the time?” I shrugged. “Whatever. You need to tell her about that.”

“The dictionary? Well alright then.”

She punched my arm. “You know what I mean.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, let’s just get through this meal, and then we can talk to her about it.” She nodded. “Okay, let’s go get some Italian food!”

I was now laden with three orders of spaghetti, three different salads, and an order of pizza fries, I’m told they’re delicious, along with the bags of clothes from earlier. I led the girls towards the car quickly, so we could eat our lunch warm.

I’ve been tuning out the girls for a while now, because they had been talking about things that appear to be universal ‘girl talk’ since we ordered our lunch. I began to say something, I don’t remember what it was, when my mind halted upon hearing the words “-think... he’s cute?”

When Lis said that, I almost tripped and dropped all the food, but I caught myself in time and I don’t think the girls noticed. I turned my head to see that Lis was looking down, but I could see a faint blush peeking out from under her bangs. She was still walking, though, so the fact that Brandi had stopped for a second was evident in her catching back up with Lis. I slowed down slightly so that I was standing next to Lis with Brandi on her other side.

Brandi looked up at me, and sighed before leaning down and whispering in Lis’ ear. Lis nodded and began to walk faster. A look of concern flashed over Brandi’s face as Lis walked away. Brandi looked up at me. “You be good to her.” She then increased her pace to catch up with Lis, leaving me to stare after them in confusion.

I shortly regained control of my motor functions, and began to return to the car so that we could get back to campus. I reached the surface to see the girls leaning on my car, talking quietly. I crossed the street and waited for Brandi to see me, which she did in short order, and I walked up. “My keys are in my right front pocket. I’d get them myself but my hands are kinda full.”

Brandi nodded and pulled my keys out, unlocking the car and opening the rear door. She unloaded my arms into the car. The three of us got in the car and I started to drive towards campus. Crossing Route 611, I realized that the girls had been incredibly quiet since I got to the car. “Um... is everything okay?” They both remained silent. “Is something wrong?” More silence. “Brandi, what did I do?” Still no answer. “Fine. The awkward silence continues.” The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

Brandi was the first to break the awkward silence as we approached campus. “Drop us off at my building, okay?”

I nodded and stopped in front of her building. We got out and I offered to carry the bags and things upstairs for them.

Brandi pulled Lis to the side and they whispered for a moment or two before Brandi walked back over. “You just take the clothes and your food back to your room. We’ll eat in my room and then join you later.”

“...okay then. I’ll see you two later. Save me some of the fries, okay?” She nodded, taking their food out of the car and leading Lis up to her room. “Well, that was weird... Might as well go do my research now.”

I got back in the car and drove around to my usual parking spot. I got out and carried my food and the bags of clothes up to my room. I put the clothes down just inside the closet and put my food down next to my computer. I got a fork and a glass of Mountain Dew and sat down to begin my quest to refamiliarize myself with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, one unicorn in particular.

Author's Note

Just FYI, lis is french for lily.

Have fun!